Thursday, 4:30 PM
Brockton father to be charged with murdering wife, daughter
(Robert E. Klein for The Boston Globe)
Brockton police said they responded to a 911 call today at this home on Nilsson Street and found a mother and daughter murdered.
By John R. Ellement, Raja Mishra and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff
When armed police officers kicked in the door of Mark Benoit's apartment in Brockton today, authorities said they saw a large puddle of blood.
Near the front door, police said they found the body of his wife, Cynthia Benoit. In a bedroom was the body of the couple’s 9-year-old daughter, Sara Benoit, said Timothy J. Cruz, the Plymouth County district attorney.
Police arrested Mark Benoit, 42, who was bloody when officers entered the house, but did not struggle, Cruz said. He was rushed to a Boston area hospital. Authorities would not describe his injuries in detail or say how he had been hurt.
"He has substantial cuts and lost a substantial amount of blood," said Cruz, who spoke to reporters outside the family’s apartment on Nilsson Street.
Cruz would not discuss a possible motive for the crime. In response to a reporter's question, he said, "Domestic violence is something that we have to deal with everyday."
Officers with their guns drawn surrounded the three-story gray colonial-style house after Mark Benoit called 911 at about 9:45 a.m., according to police and neighbors. Mark Benoit will be charged with two counts of first-degree murder when he is well enough to be arraigned, Cruz said.
Sara Benoit had enrolled in third grade at the Arnone Elementary School in Brockton in December, said Jocelyn Meek, a school spokeswoman. Counselors have been called to help her classmates cope.
Allen Harraden lives in the house behind the Benoits, and they share a driveway, which has a basketball hoop. Harraden said he met Mark Benoit a week ago. He was drinking a can of beer and shooting baskets with his daughter.
"I can still picture her in my mind," Harraden said, "the way she was smiling at me."
